GreenBkk.com Formula 1 | Practice Two - Alonso leads tight top three in Monaco

Practice Two - Alonso leads tight top three in Monaco

Ferrari’s Fernando Alonso and McLaren’s Lewis Hamilton finished Thursday afternoon’s second practice session in Monaco just 0.105s apart, as Nico Rosberg, Jenson Button, Sebastian Vettel and Felipe Massa all ended up in the 1m 15s. As track conditions continually improved, the times got faster and faster, with Alonso finally lapping in 1m 15.123s.

Hamilton got down to 1m 15.228s, and Rosberg got the Mercedes going very quickly for 1m 15.321s, with Button fourth on 1m 15.448s from Vettel on 1m 15.667s and Massa’s 1m 15.781s. That made four marques in the top six: Ferrari, McLaren, Mercedes and Red Bull.

Mercedes’ Michael Schumacher made amends for this morning’s gaffe with seventh-fastest time of 1m 16.356s, while Red Bull’s Mark Webber got going after his gearbox problems in the first session, with 1m 16.642s.

Adrian Sutil’s strong form continued with eighth fastest time for Force India in 1m 17.101s, ahead of Nick Heidfeld’s Renault on 1m 17.126s. Vitaly Petrov was close behind his team mate on 1m 17.337s, but lost control of his R31 under braking for the chicane at the end of the session and lost the front wing after clobbering the barrier.

Sergio Perez was Sauber’s faster runner on 1m 17.541s, ahead of Rubens Barrichello on 1m 17.570s for Williams, Sebastien Buemi on 1m 17.581s for Toro Rosso, then Pastor Maldonado who had a quick trip up the Ste Devote escape road before lapping the second Williams in 1m 17.633s. Sauber’s Kamui Kobayashi was close to them with 1m 17.706s, and Jaime Alguersuari rounded out that group with 1m 17.789s in the second Toro Rosso.

Heikki Kovalainen continued Lotus’s progress with 1m 18.266s, with team mate Jarno Trulli on his tail with 1m 18.490s. Paul di Resta’s troubled day continued shortly after he had lapped his Force India in 1m 19.053s, as it stopped in the chicane escape road. Jerome D’Ambrosio got close to his time for Virgin with 1m 19.185s, with team mate Timo Glock on 1m 19.338s, while Narain Karthikeyan managed 1m 22.066s in the sole HRT to run. Tonio Liuzzi’s car was too badly damaged this morning to be repaired in time.

Both Lotuses visited the Ste Devote escape road, as did Glock and Maldonado, while Alonso very nearly ran into the back of his team mate as Massa slowed at Rascasse to get a clear run into his next lap.

Credit: Formula One Administration Ltd (www.formula1.com)